The Kevin Durant trade was going to shape the future of the Phoenix Suns’ roster for the next three years.
That shape right now is, erm, still taking form.
Phoenix’s return on the player side from the Houston Rockets was Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, two shooting guards at by far the deepest position on the roster. Even if Brooks is viewed as someone you can scale down to as a “wing,” he is an undersized one, like Royce O’Neale.
The Suns now own four picks in the 2025 NBA Draft: Nos. 10, 29, 52 and 59. There are plenty of possibilities there that will impact how we project the roster going forward.
So what’s left to get done and what should we expect in just the next three days alone?
More motivation for Suns to move Bradley Beal
The work starts with balancing out the roster.
Currently on it at a height between 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-6 are Brooks, Green, O’Neale, Grayson Allen, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker. Phoenix should realistically only have three of those guys around by the start of the season. Anything more than four would be irresponsible.
Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro is reporting the Suns intend to keep Green to form a long-term backcourt with Booker. In order to give that any chance of working at all, Phoenix now has to get off Beal. The Suns always wanted to get this done going into the season, but it wasn’t a necessity, and waiting it out a season in order to avoid long-term salary hits via a waive-and-stretch was the most logical step. With these three redundant skill sets together, however, that would give Green little chance at all to properly develop.
So, uh, it’s not great that this trade gave Phoenix even more of a reason to potentially take these dire options at getting rid of Beal.
Beal’s on the books for $53.6 million next year and has a $57.1 million player option the next year. Phoenix cannot afford at this point to give up any more short-term draft capital to get rid of him, as a way to entice anyone on the trade market. Adding five second-round picks to its collection in the Durant trade likely doesn’t apply here. The Suns can involve one more future first-round pick.
The Suns could go waive-and-stretch. That would be around $22 million on the books each of the next five seasons.
A trade, of course, would be contingent on Beal waiving his no-trade clause. A waive-and-stretch, of course, has to be contingent on Beal agreeing to a buyout and having offers in place in free agency to make up for that money.
There really isn’t a good answer. Do they just send him home?
Who wants a winning wing?
Allen, Brooks and O’Neale should have their share of suitors, with interest varying on the trio.
Allen quietly had an injury-riddled season this year that affected his performance through most of the season. His deficiencies as a defender and playmaker were also more prominently on display.
With that said, he’s a good ball player. Allen is shooting 44.5% from 3 as a Sun on 5.7 attempts per game, and among the 140 players to take at least 500 3s over that time, Allen’s percentage is the best in basketball by almost a full 2%, per Stathead. Even though those weaknesses from this past season are noted, he’s a passable defender in the right role who works his ass off on the floor. And his occasional off-the-bounce game can still be a bonus to a team that actually has a conducive offensive system.
He might be overpaid in some eyes, due $16.9 million next year with $37 million more over two additional years left on his deal, but Allen would be a good addition to many playoff-caliber rosters. He turns 30 before the start of the season.
Brooks, 29, shot a career-high 39.7% from 3 on a career-high 6.3 attempts a night. He has learned how to dial his individual offensive creation way down in a more accentuating role. With that, you’re getting the antics and undeniable edge he brings. Brooks is not one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA anymore, but he’s still a positive on that end and great on his best nights. Like Allen, it’s a bit pricey, at $21.1 million and $20 million for two more years. But there should be interest in what he provides.
O’Neale also had a terrific shooting season, his being 42.3% on 7.6 3s a game. At 32 years old, he’s on the elder side, and those limitations do show up for a guy that was never the quickest or the strongest in the first place. But O’Neale, even in the last two months of the season when he stood out as one of a handful of guys to seriously mentally detach, had a handful of games where he was sensational and everywhere on the court. A winning player like him at the price of a little under $11 million a year over three seasons is appealing.
The Suns need to move at least one of these guys and could get away with two. Even for a middling return with blah draft picks and/or an upside swing of a younger player, the trio is just not a match for where Phoenix is headed in the short term and maximizing value now would be wise.
Moving around the draft
The snappy timeliness of Wednesday’s draft is about constructing the next young core to go around Booker. Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro are already a part of it but now it’s time to really flesh that out. You’d better hope the Suns don’t get grand ambitions with involving any of the picks in a trade for a win-now player. We’ll see.
Outside of that note for caution, Phoenix should explore moving up where they can. Whether that’s in deals involving any of those three above players or not, the Suns have a reason to look into each portion of the draft. While it would look short sighted in the moment, this is where dealing one of those future first-rounders could come into play, either the heavily protected 2028 selection or the worst-amongst-three-teams pick in 2029.
Up top, if they really want a center, Duke’s Khaman Maluach will most likely not drop to No. 10. Phoenix moving up just a few slots could secure his services. It should be said that the other potential targets would be, and I wish I was joking here, three different guards that range from 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-5 in Baylor’s V.J. Edgecombe, Texas’ Tre Johnson and Duke’s Kon Knueppel. Maluach is the only guy that would make sense to go and get.
The back of the first round is where talent really dries up, so how about a bump from No. 29 into the early 20s or high teens? That’s where a bigger wing could get targeted, like Colorado State’s Nique Clifford, Real Madrid’s Hugo Gonzalez or Illinois’ Will Riley.
Phoenix moved up in the second round last year and could look to do it again. Due to NIL bringing so many players back to school that would have been picked in the 30s and 40s, the talent really is lacking like never before in the 50s. Getting out of there and higher up in the second round would be a worthwhile maneuver.
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